Now with 3653 Participants!
One Brigada Today reader said, “Hey — this issue is full of resources!”
Why not take time to share it with a friend and tell him/her to get on board too! The price is right. :-)

News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]

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In this issue….

* FOLLOW UP FROM THE “YOU’VE-GOT-TO-ORDER-THIS-VIDEO DEPARTMENT”
* FOLLOW-UP ON “THE BEST FREE EMAIL FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS”
* WANTED: SOME GOOD COWS
* GATEWAY MISSIONSFEST NEARS KICK-OFF
* SWEET VIDEO SUITE YOURS FOR THE TAKING…
* TODAY’S TEASER
* INTERCOLLEGIATE MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN S.E. USA, NOV 15-17, 1996
* POINTCAST: UP-TO-DATE NEWS ON YOUR SCREEN
* 30 DAYS OF PRAYER … BEGINS ON YOUR SCREEN
* INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T IN THE FORMER USSR?
* HUBMARKS
* GLOBAL GLIMPSE
* US CENTER OFFERS MAPS TO BRIGADA PARTICIPANTS
* WEB-WATCH
* HEADING TO URBANA???
* MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK… IN THE LIFE OF THE CURDS
* RUSHIN’ INTO RUSSIAN
* TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

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FOLLOW UP FROM THE “YOU’VE-GOT-TO-ORDER-THIS-VIDEO DEPARTMENT”
Without a doubt… “To the Ends of the Earth” is a keeper. My finished tape just arrived today (dressed in the full color box). Until now I had only been using the 28-minute version… but now, tomorrow morning, I can start using the 10-min. condensed version… It alternates between beautiful color footage from tons of cross-cultural destinations, individual “sound-byte” interviews with key national leaders, and pertinent Bible verses to drive home the points. This tape is a keeper. It’ll sell out. Guaranteed.
Christian Information Network
11025 State Hwy 83
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
phone: 719-522-1040

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FOLLOW-UP ON “THE BEST FREE EMAIL FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS”
Okay… All right!!! I surrender !!!!!!! :-) Thanks for the barrage of email about AT&T and the views the company holds about homosexuals. Honest… I pledge from the bottom of my heart… I didn’t know anything about company policies on moral issues… I only knew that the deal they were offering on email was pretty good. :-) So… if you were considering switching to AT&T WorldNet and you feel that your usage of their long distance would, in effect, be sponsoring the company’s moral stands, please feel free to use another vendor. There’s still Juno (in USA 1-800-799-JUNO; prospective users the world over can write to signup@juno.com for more info) for free email… but Juno doesn’t offer web access. So… if you still want to see what AT&T has to offer and you’ve figured out how to avoid their moral attachments, point your browser to http://www.att.com/worldnet/wis/index.html for more info. By the way, our colleague David Wedge DavidWedge@aol.com says MCI has the same deal going… but you have to ask for it. And another by the way… Brigada participant Don Newby 106155.2350@CompuServe.COM wants to find a similar local Internet hook-up in Europe… “cheap” and fast. If anybody knows an option, write Don direct. Don, let us know if you can compile a summary report of responses! Thanks!

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WANTED: SOME GOOD COWS
[You thought I was kidding….] This Brigada participant from Denmark needs to find a good deal on some cattle for relief project in a rather poor area near Tbilisi, Georgia. If you can help, write Henrik Due Jensen daneu@inet.uni-c.dk. Ideal location would be northern Turkey or western Azerbaijan. Come on… let’s all keep our ears open so we can help Henrik get this project on the .. mooooo-ve! :-)

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GATEWAY MISSIONSFEST NEARS KICK-OFF
“One can put a thousand to flight; two can chase ten thousand. The Gateway MissionsFest in St. Louis, Missouri, October 24, 25 and 26 will bring together churches and mission organizations from the Midwest to “Partner together to share Jesus with every tribe, tongue and nation.” Workshops will include a wide variety of topics from a “Heart of God” seminar to African-American missions history. … For more information contact Judy Lindow at 314-863-5503, fax 314-721-1092, email: ks4g—Vateway@aol.com, snail mail: Gateway MissionsFest, 2500 Ashby Rd., St. Louis, MO 63114.

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SWEET VIDEO SUITE YOURS FOR THE TAKING…
Got a video you need to edit but no big bucks to lay down for commercial editing time? Contact John Blake at 72774.1766@compuserve.com or JohnBlake@Juno.com, tel. (206) 745-4206 or in the USA, 1-800-981-6700. He’s got a top notch suite with SVHS and Hi-8 that he’ll rent for just $25 to Brigada participants.

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TODAY’S TEASER
What country has the largest number of missionaries in the world but still has one of the lowest percentages of believers of any country in the world? Surprise. According to the people at Kiristan Holocaust Museum, it’s Japan. They’re urgently requesting prayer for spiritual awakening and Revival in Japan. November 23, l996 is the 400th anniversary of the Kiristan Holocaust in which nearly one million Kiristan or indigenous Japanese Christians were massacred and the cause of Christ set back. A special Museum is being set up to commemorate this anniversary and to centralize the appeal for urgent prayer for Japan. … For a monthly newsletter or to send help please write: Kiristan Holocaust Museum, The Keikyo Institute, Box 65, Tokyo, Japan 106-91. Email: Jhl@iac.co.jp.

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INTERCOLLEGIATE MISSIONS CONFERENCE IN S.E. USA, NOV 15-17, 1996
[Note new corrected phone number!] The Southeast Regional InterVarsity Missions Fellowship invites you to the 1996 Global Outreach Conference to be held November 15-17 at Rock Eagle Conference Center in Eatonton, Georgia (appx. one hour east of Atlanta). According to Brent Everett, “GO Conference is an annual mission conference sponsored by InterVarsity which attracts schools and churches from across the Southeast for an intense weekend of worship, Bible study, and prayer as we consider God’s passion for the unreached and our personal responsibility in completing the evangelization of the world.”… Brent adds, “For those whose part is to go to the nations and proclaim His Kingdom, the mission agencies represented at GO `96 can get you there. For those whose part is to pray and send others, GO `96 is a call to personal holiness and a lifestyle of powerful prayer and sacrificial giving. Whether you long to see you church burdened for the unreached, your campus fellowship ignited with a missions vision, or your own training used for world evangelization, GO `96 will compel you to listen to God and discover your part in bringing the world From Darkness to Light.” The cost for the weekend is $60 before Nov. 1, $65 afterwards, or $55 per person for groups of nine or more. For more info or registration material contact GO `96 at: 803-735-8343 ext.3461, Email: serivmf@scsn.net , or Write: GO `96, 7435 Monticello Rd #57, Columbia, SC 29203-1599. Also, stop by http://www.scsn.net/users/serivmf/go96 after Oct.4.

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POINTCAST: UP-TO-DATE NEWS ON YOUR SCREEN
Have you seen Pointcast? I tried it for a couple of weeks and loved it… but it takes time to read! Bob Hall, National Coordinator, Centre for Mission Direction in New Zealand, wrote, “For news-freaks I came across the ultimate screen saver during the week. It’s called “PointCast” and can be downloaded free from the PointCast web site www.pointcast.com -PC version only I’m afraid. Once it is installed it can be programmed to go onto the web on schedule or on command to retrieve up-to-date news from a variety of sources (Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Time magazine, various computer and business magazines). It also retrieves the top news stories of the day (political, international and business) as well as weather reports (including satellite pictures of Asia). If you set a fairly minimalist news frame (you do this by personalizing the web search) the software spends about 9 minutes on the web per update. The software and service is free because PointCast have incorporated dynamic adverts within the screens.” I agree with Bob — it’s great, . . . as long as you make time to read it! :-)

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30 DAYS OF PRAYER … BEGINS ON YOUR SCREEN
As many as ten million people are expected to take part in the fifth annual global month of prayer for the Muslim world, which begins in January. Ron Kernahan reports, “Greek and Russian Orthodox churches are among the latest to participate in the event, which has drawn ever-widening support from denominations and missionary organizations since it was launched by Youth With A Mission.” Coinciding with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as “an act of identification”, the next 30 Days event starts on January 10 and ends on February 8. A web page is being designed giving details of where to get the 27 different translations! And again an email daily edition will be sent for free. The email version differs from the full text guide as it is “excerpts” designed to encourage spreading the news to those who might not otherwise be praying. So how do you sign on? Easy, just buzz the hub and sub! (Roughly translated that means send an email to hub@XC.Org with the body of the message reading:
subscribe 30-Days

… now wasn’t that easy?”

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INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T IN THE FORMER USSR?
Then it sounds like you ought to inquire about a special symposium being held in Dallas, TX, December 6 – 7, 1996. In fact, according to George Sparks, Co-chair of the event, the symposium hopes to “build strategic alliances, increase and coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of Eurasia evangelization, and increase Eurasia evangelical inter-mission cooperation and prayer.” For more information, call by tel. or fax to (214) 739-7099 or e-mail russiansofe@xc.org or write 5815 Phoenix Dr, #10 Dallas, TX 75231.

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HUBMARKS
For this week’s “Hubmarks” column, we rely heavily on good friend and colleague George Peavy george@lfa.com who recently reminded us that “there is another outbreak of the false “good times” virus rumor going around.” Right George. We’ve seen it too. If you need to have documented evidence that “Good Times” is a hoax, George can supply it. But George also alerted us of a real virus…, a “Trojan horse” claiming to be PKZIP version 3 (the latest release 2.04g). If you see a “version 3”, better keep a distance! In other news, George reported that some Internet Service sysops were starting to “block” addresses with Juno domains… apparently because of the severe number of advertisements… “spam jobs”… originating on that service. As George put it, “Something for Brigada readers to keep in mind — spamming (that is, sending large quantities of unsolicited advertising mail) is something that never should be done. There is no cause worthy enough to justify such an abuse of the net.”

Finally, George wrote, “If you have a friend who is a field missionary, it’s wise to send mail to the missionary only with the greatest care. For many missionaries, email access comes dearly, often at a cost of more than two dollars per minute on a dial-up phone line, and connections made only once a week.” George urged, “Don’t send large quantities of unsolicited traffic.” … And regardless of the situation, George urged us to “stay away from discussions that have (or can be interpreted) to have political or military overtones. This includes names of prominent leaders (military and civilian), and political jargon specific to the country in question. Also, avoid discussions of spiritual warfare, as much of the terminology is stuff that scanners are looking for.” Thanks George george@lfa.com! Welcome stuff!

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GLOBAL GLIMPSE
In Zaire, Africa, the Reformed Church planted 200 churches in the last 15 years. This may not sound like much until one realizes that it is the result of the work of only three theologically trained pastors from among a denomination which historically has been skeptical of church planting.
(Source: Prof. J.M.Vorster, 2 Joostestraat, Potchefstroem 2531, RSA, e-mail TSPJmV@Puknet.Puk.ac.za via DAWN Friday Fax, 37.96, http://www.tecc.co.uk/jesusa/dawnindx.html
Global Glimpse is assembled each week by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO.

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US CENTER OFFERS MAPS TO BRIGADA PARTICIPANTS
Have you been putting off the purchase of one of those Global people group awareness maps? You know… the ones that show the status of the gospel among the least reached peoples in Africa and beyond? Well, procrastinate no more! Greg Parsons (Exec. Dir. at the US Center) is willing to cut Brigada participants a special deal. He has instructed Vern Dueck, Manager of the resource bookstore at the US Center, to offer them to Brigada participants for $3.75 (24″x36″) and $7.75 (36″x64″). Great!

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WEB-WATCH
Have you seen the 51 Spanish People Profiles…. http://www.eccnet.com/missions/p_n_a

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HEADING TO URBANA???
Then better make registration: Urbana 96 Hotline: 608/274-7995. Or write Urbana 96 Promotion, P.O. Box 7895, Madison WI, 53707-7895; E-mail: Urbana96@ivcf.org.

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK… IN THE LIFE OF THE CURDS
You can make a difference in the life of the Kurdish people this week! According to sources involved firsthand, the US forces are pulling back and leaving Kurds by the thousands. To make a difference, just address the following to your congressman and senators and mail or fax this letter to them in Washington as well as well as to their local offices. Time is of the essence. They’re meeting with presidential advisors and folks on both sides of the political arena. Here’s the suggested letter:

Dear Honorable Senator/Congressman——–,

I have been disturbed by recent news that America is abandoning its promise to protect the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. I have noted with great dismay that the State Department has withdrawn its official presence (MCC, OFDA, USAID), which seems to imply that we as a nation are no longer committed to keeping Saddam Hussein out of the area. If we are abandoning the region to Saddam, what was the purpose of spending 100 million dollars and more to drive him out of the north? A seemingly successful endeavor could turn into an absolute failure.

I believe it is in the best interests of America to bring stability to and continue protecting the Kurdish people and request you to do all that you can to this end. If we allow the situation to disintegrate into chaos, there is a strong possibility that millions of Kurds will once again have to flee to the Turkish mountains where many will no doubt die while others who remain behind could be slaughtered by Saddam’s forces as they were at the end of the Gulf War. If this happens, America will surely not stand by to watch these people perish in huge numbers. We will have to mount massive and expensive relief operations and will find ourselves back where we were five years ago. Please keep this tragedy from occurring again.

Sincerely,…

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TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to hub@xc.org with only the following message:
subscribe brigada
TO UNSUBSCRIBE (Yikes! :-O), send email to hub@xc.org with this line in the text:
unsubscribe brigada

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BRIGADA TODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING TEAM OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS:

*Global Glimpses: John Hanna, Caleb Project, jhanna@cproject.com
*ADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.com
*Brigada Website: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, mayhew@xc.org
*Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.org
*Brigada Customer Service Manager: Revis Ann Massey, RevisAnnMassey@xc.org
*Brigada Coordinator: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
*and many other occasional contributors too numerous to mention!
But thanks for working together! That’s the dream of Brigada!